Penelope (Peppy) Smeaton
“A wonderful blend of grit and grace…” This
is how one of Peppy’s friends described
Peppy’s character.
Many people will remember Peppy Smeaton.
Her name brings a warm smile of recognition
with appreciative comments about the advice
and support she gave as a Health Visitor.
She was well qualified for this role: her first
job was as a Norland Nanny, and when she
trained as a nurse at the Radcliffe Infirmary,
she was named Best Surgical Nurse in her
year group. She did extra midwifery training, too, which was to prove
invaluable when she went to Nepal as a missionary nurse.
In 1965 she was posted to the Shining Hospital in Pokhara, so named
because it consisted of aluminium huts. It was comparatively advanced
with an operating theatre, but the mud hut where Peppy lived was very
primitive. “She made it beautiful with curtains and covers for the tea-
chest furniture, and welcomed everybody,” remembers one of her
colleagues. She also worked in the primitive rural clinic of Baglung –
two days’ trek from Pokhara. At that time there were no roads or motor
vehicles in this part of Nepal. Peppy was tone deaf, and her language
skills were imperfect, but she was known for her warmth, kindness and
decisiveness.
She returned to the UK in the 1970s, trained to become a Health Visitor
and went to live in Hurst Lane. As she had in Nepal, Peppy appreciated
her home and delighted in sharing it with others. Hundreds of people,
both young and old, including many international students, found a
warm welcome and new friendships there, over beautifully prepared
meals. Friendships were very important to her, she had become an
orphan at the age of 12, and was brought up by kind guardians, but it
was her relationship with Jesus that was most precious of all. From this
flowed her love for others, and a longing that they should know Him too.
Life changed overnight for Peppy in June 2019, when she suffered a
stroke. She died earlier this year, and was buried in St Michael’s
churchyard, Cumnor, in July 2022, followed by a thanksgiving service at
St Ebbe’s Church in Oxford. We will miss her enormously, but we thank
God for the joy of having known her.
Jennie Gatenby (from tributes at the thanksgiving service)